Lantern.



A. R. PRITGHARD.

LANTERN.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 21. 1011.

1,003,794. I Patented Sept. 19,1911.

I @Z AAQWAWIQ ALBERT R. PRITCI-IARD, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

LANTERN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

Application filed July 21, 1911. Serial No. 634,612.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT It. PniToH- ARD, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lanterns, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the construction and arrangement of the upper portions of a lantern, including the dome and the globeretainer.

The object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive construction by which the globe-retainer is retained within the dome of the lantern when the globe is removed, and in which the assembling of the parts is simplified and the globe-retainer may be removed from the dome at any time desired.

To these ends the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the parts hereinafter described, as they are defined in the succeeding claims.

In the drawings :--Figure 1 is a vertical section through the upper portion of a lantern embodying the present invention; and Fig. 2 is a bottom-View of the portion of the lantern including the skirt, the dome, and the globe-retainer.

The invention is illustrated as embodied in a lantern of the type known as a signal lantern, or railway lantern, although it is applicable to lanterns of other types, and only so much of the lantern is illustrated as is necessary for an understanding of the invention.

The dome 3, and the skirt 4 at the bottom of the dome, are illustrated as of the usual general form, although these parts are made, in the present instance, of separate pieces of metal,-instead of being integral as they are more commonly made. The

, skirt is provided with the usual hinge 5 and catch 6 by which it is secured to the wire frame or guard 7 of the lantern, and the skirt and dome may thus be swung aside for the insertion or removal of the globe.

The globe, when in place,'is retained at its upper end by the globe-retainer 8, which is in the form of a sheet-metal ring pressed downwardly in the usual manner by a coiled spring 9 contained within the dome.

The skirt 4 is provided with a central opening, and the dome is formed with an annular outwardly-pressed bead 10 near the bottom. The dome is inserted in the openingot the skirt, with the bead engaging the inner edge of the skirt, and the lower edge of the dome is then pressed outwardly to form a flange 11, which engages the lower surface of the skirt, thus locking the dome in place. This flange is interrupted, however, at several points, and the metal between the portions of the flange is bent so as to form lugs 12, which project inwardly and then upwardly Within the bottom of the dome. These lugs constitute means for retaining the globe-retainer 8 within the dome, against the tendency of the spring 9 to expel it therefrom.

The globe-retainer is provided at its periphery with a depending flange 14, and with a channel 13 just inside this flange. lVhen the globe is removed from the lan tern the spring 9 presses the globe-retainer downwardly until the flange 14 seats itself upon the lugs 12, while the latter extend upwardly into the channel 13. Accordingly the globe-retainer is securely retained within the dome, while at the same time the en gagement of the lugs with the channel prevent the lugs from being bent inwardly and downwardly by the pressure of the spring. hen the globe is in place in the lantern the globe-retainer israised, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, being then out of engagement with the lugs 12.

It will be apparent that the construction just described is such that after the dome and the skirt have been completely formed and assembled the globe-retainer may be introduced into the dome by moving it edgewise between the lugs 12, and it may then be turned into its normal position and is thereafter held in such position and prevented from escaping from the dome. This arrangement greatly facilitates the construction and assembling of the lantern as it is not necessary, as in previous constructions, to insert the globe-retainer in the dome and hold it in place while soldering, or otherwise affixing retaining-means within the dome to secure the globe-retainer. Furthermore, the globe-retainer may be at any time removed by an operation the reverse of that by which it is inserted.

I claim 1. In a lantern, the combination of a dome provided, at the bottom, with a plurality of separate inward projections, and a spring-pressed globe-retainer movable vertically in the dome, but of greater diameter than the space between the inner extremities of said projections so as to be normally retained in the dome thereby.

2. In a lantern, the combination of a dome provided, at the bOttO111, \Vll'/l1 a plurality of inwardly and upwardly-directed projections, and a spring-pressed globe-retainer movable vertically in the dome and having a peripheral downwardly-directed flange adapted to engage said projections to retain the globe-retainer within the dome.

3. In a lantern, the combination of a skirt, a dome fixed to the skirt and having, at the bottom, an interrupted outwardlydirected flange engaging the underside of the skirt and securing the skirt and the dome together, the dome having also a plurality of inwardly and upwardly-directed projections formed on the bottom of the dome between the several portions of said flange, and a spring-pressed globe-retainer verticallyinovable in the dome and having a peripheral channel in its lower surface adapted to receive said projections and retain the globe-retainer within the dome.

ALBERT R. PRITOHARD. Vitnesses:

D. GURNEE, L. TI-ION.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. G. 

